SORA QUEST

I. Prologue

In the year of our expedition, we set forth to catalogue the phenomena of sky and shell -- those twin spirals of air and calcium that have captivated naturalists for centuries. The sky above and the sea below are mirrors of one another, and in their meeting place, the shells are formed.

II. Shell Cabinet

III. Observations

The shell and the sky share a common geometry: the logarithmic spiral. In the nautilus chamber we find the same curve that governs the spiral arms of cyclones. The sky builds its weather in shells; the sea builds its shells in sky-patterns. One cannot study one without discovering the other.

We observed that the iridescence of the abalone interior precisely mirrors the colors of dawn at the latitude of collection. This may be coincidence. We suspect it is not.

IV. Conclusion

The quest continues. Each shell collected reveals new sky-patterns within its spiral. Each sunrise observed deposits new colors in the nacre of shells yet unformed. The expedition is infinite, as it should be -- for the sky has no end, and the shells number beyond counting.